The Evesham Township School District Board of Education recently examined the salaries of superintendents from 14 school districts in Burlington and Camden counties that fall into a similar enrollment category (3,001–6,500 students) as the ETSD.
According to the ETSD BOE, those superintendents’ annual salaries ranged from $165,000 to $213,747, with the average salary sitting at $188,502. Those figures also do not factor in any potential bonus-merit pay that a superintendent may have been awarded.
With this information in mind, according to the ETSD BOE, district Superintendent John Scavelli Jr.’s current annual salary of $165,000 (with no potential for bonus-merit pay) means he receives one of the lowest salaries on that list.
Members of the ETSD BOE will have this information and more to take into consideration at the board’s June 27 meeting when a tentative vote is scheduled on whether to increase Scavelli’s salary by 3 percent annually each year of his 2019-2024 contract.
ETSD BOE Vice President Trish Everhart relayed this information and more in a statement at the board’s latest meeting.
In addition, the BOE said that Scavelli’s annual salary of $165,000 is actually a reduction from the $170,000 annual salary he was originally hired with in 2010, prior to when he and other superintends across the state became subject to then-Gov. Christie’s state-mandated cap on superintendent salaries.
Proponents of the salary cap have argued the cap has served as a way to reduce administrative costs for school districts and fight high taxes, while opponents say the cap simply caused many of New Jersey’s more talented educational leaders to take jobs in nearby, neighboring states without such salary restrictions.
The superintendent pay caps were originally linked to the enrollment figures of a school district as follows: 250 students or fewer capped at $125,000; 251 to 750 students capped at $135,000; 751 to 1,500 students capped at $145,000, 1,501 to 3,000 students capped at $155,000, 3,001 to 6,500 students capped at $165,000 and 6,501 to 10,000 students capped $175,000.
With nearly 4,400 students, the ETSD falls into the 3,001–6,500 student category, meaning superintendent salaries were originally capped at $165,000.
That highest available figure of $175,000 was chosen to reflect same salary set for Christie.
Prior to the state mandating the reduction of Scavelli’s original $170,000 salary to $165,000, the BOE said Scavelli had already volunteered to freeze his original $170,000 salary from his hiring in 2010 through 2013.
As the BOE also noted, the state-mandated salary cap was increased in 2017, meaning Scavelli has been eligible to receive as much as $191,584 per year since that time, with 2 percent annual increases thereafter.
However, although the BOE said many other schools districts had adjusted their superintendents’ salaries, the ETSD has not made any such adjustments to Scavelli’s salary since that time.
After discussions with Scavelli, the BOE says it is now scheduled to vote on 3 percent annual increases for each year of Scavelli’s 2019-2024 employment contract.
As an example offered by the by BOE, with the first potential 3 percent increase in 2019-2020, Scavelli would be employed at $169,950 annually. He would receive increases in increments of 3 percent for subsequent years of his contract.
According to the board, Scavelli’s 2019-2024 draft contract, with adjusted salary, was submitted to the executive county superintendent as required by law prior to any board action and has been approved by such.
According to the board, a Rice notice (a notification from a public body to an employee that the body plans to discuss that individual’s employment at an upcoming meeting) was offered to Scavelli, and Scavelli has exercised his right for the discussion to be held in public.
The board’s June 27 meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at DeMasi Middle School.
